In fact, German immigrants populate local cities by a margin of about 50%+

By Lynda Jensen
Editor

A spot-check of ancestry for local cities reveals an interesting portrait of ethnic heritage.

For example, is New Germany really German?

The answer is yes, with 66 percent of residents in that city listing Germany as heritage in the US Census  the highest percent in local cities. See breakdown.

Other cities also claim Germany as its main source of identity, with Mayer being next in line at 64.5 percent, ranging down to Montrose and Waverly, which have less than half of German ancestry.

Howard Lake is half German, and Winsted claims 59 percent of Germany heritage. Lester Prairie registers 61 percent of residents there being of German heritage.

As such, local residents can claim a rich heritage of inventors as well as famous people who are German born or the children of German immigrants.

Germans created an endless list of inventions; including everything from aspirin to the zeppelin (floating dirigibles, such as the Goodyear blimp).

The following is a small sample of important German inventions:

• X-rays, discovered by Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen• The world’s first practical automobile to be powered by an internal-combustion engine was built by German Karl Benz in 1885• diesel fueled internal combustion engine by Rudolf Diesel• Geiger counters, which were co-invented by German Hans Geiger• Aspirin, which was synthesized in 1899 by German chemist Felix Hoffmann, who worked for a German company called Bayer• The unit of frequency of a radio wave  one cycle per second  is named the hertz, in honor of Heinrich Hertz.• Gutenberg press, an innovative printing machine that used movable type by Johannes Gutenberg• The first electric elevator was built by the German inventor Werner von Siemens in 1880• Germans Max Knott and Ernst Ruska co-invented the electron microscope• Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin was the German military officer who developed the rigid dirigible; a lighter-than-air vehicle that became known as the zeppelin (something like the Goodyear blimp).

There are also numerous famous Germans and German immigrants, including famous sluggers Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, as well as famous shortstop Honus Wagner (1874-1955)

• “The Flying Dutchman” (In Wagner’s time, the term “Dutch” was a common nickname for Germans.)

The words “German chocolate cake” are derived from German’s Sweet Chocolate, which was a certain type of chocolate named after an Englishman named Sam German.

According to Kraft Foods/General Foods, Sam German worked for the Baker’s Chocolate Company, developed a bar of sweet baking chocolate in 1852. The new product carried the name of its inventor: Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate.

The first known published recipe for a cake using German’s Sweet Chocolate surfaced in a Texas newspaper in 1957. Over time, the name of the popular recipe, using Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate, was shortened to “German chocolate cake.”

Next: Scandinavians

The next largest pool of ancestry for local cities is Scandinavians, which compose a little less than one quarter of local ancestry.

Immigrants from Norway and Sweden are concentrated in Mayer and Howard Lake, with lesser numbers in neighboring towns.

The smallest percent belongs to both Waverly and New Germany, which feature 17.4 percent and 17.6 percent respectively. Cities that have mid range numbers of Scandinavians are Montrose (18.8 percent), Lester Prairie (17.6 percent) and Winsted (12.4 percent).

There are numerous inventions credited to Scandanavians, as well as many famous Norwegians and Swedes.

Such inventions include everything from dynamite to paperclips. A sample of inventions is as follows, courtesy of www.scandinavica.com:

• the wrench, developed by Johan Petter Johansson from Sweden in 1892

• the modern ball bearing, a bearing where the roll bodies consist of balls, was constructed in 1907, by Sven Wingquist from Swedish company Svenska Kullagerfabriken (SKF)

• dynamite. Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel patented this powerful explosive that allowed the construction of tunnels, roads and railways since the 19th century.

Nobel is also known as the founder of the Nobel Prize, an award given for outstanding contributions to mankind in the fields of science, literature, and peacekeeping activities.

• The Celsius or Centigrade thermometer, the international standard for thermometers, invented by Anders Celsius from Sweden in the 18th century.

• the propeller, so critical to naval maneuvering  invented by Swede John Ericsson, who was designer of the Union ironclad ship the Monitor in the Civil War. Two members of the ironclad’s crew were also Swedish: M. P. Sunstrum, assistant engineer, and seaman Hans Anderson.

• cheese slicers, invented by Norwegian carpenter Thor Bjørklund, who did not like the way his wife cut cheese, so, he started using one of his workshop tools. Everybody loved his cheese slicer and he patented his invention in 1927.

• gas turbines, invented by Aegidius Elling, Norwegian engineer, who built a revolutionary gas turbine in 1903 that would be used from offshore oil drilling on to aeronautical applications.

• pacemakers. Swedish physician Rune Elmqvist developed the first pacemaker to be inserted by operation, and surgeon Åke Senning carried out the first surgery in 1958. Later, in 1975, Finn Seppo Säynäjäkangas and his company Polar Electro started producing small and low-cost heart rate monitors, a major international success in the sports markets.